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History

Twenty-thousand years ago, the "Burning Martians" were the dominant life form on the planet Mars. Their name originates from the fact that each Martian was perpetually ablaze with a glowing halo of fire. They were a ruthless and barbaric race whose life's goal was to wage never-ending war against one another. The Guardians of the Universe had been observing Martian culture for quite some time, but as the race's technology level grew more advanced, the Guardians knew it would not be long before they developed interstellar travel. They decided at this time to intervene. They programmed a genetic weakness towards fire into Martian physiology as a deterrent against violence. With their darker passions dampened, the Burning Martians began to evolve into the Green and White Martian races.

Centuries later, the Earth-based Martian hero J'onn J'onzz awakened the genetic memory of his ancient ancestors. The essence of the Burning Martians overwhelmed him and he briefly turned evil and fought against his allies in the JLA. [1]

Telepathy: Martians have the ability to read the minds of others and project their thoughts to varying degrees. They can also project their mental essences into a gestalt community known as the "Great Mind". Through this, the community can enhance the telepathic strength of other Martians. This power can also enable them to reverse the effects of amnesia or psychological brainwashing.[2]

Mind Control: As an extension of this, Martians can also use the ability to alter a psychological profile of a target, enabling them to manipulate, and in some cases, outright control that individual. This practice is greatly discouraged however, and only rarely used.[3]

Malleable Form: Martians have psionic control of their physical for down to the molecular level. This allows them to a form of shape-shifting that allows them to mimic other forms, elongate aspects of their body, increase or decrease their physical size, and so on.[2]